In early 1983, Gary Goetzman and I went to see my favorite band, the Talking Heads, at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. The show was like seeing a movie just waiting to be filmed. Jonathan Demme Read Quote
That is – the use of the subjective camera is an idea that’s been around in movies for a long, long time. And it’s an idea that was seized on very notably by Sam Fuller and by Alfred Hitchcock in two different very kind of – otherwise very different styles of filmmaking. Jonathan Demme Read Quote
I’ll tell you – what I can tell you is that I know when I saw ‘Zodiac’ and then again when I saw ‘No Country For Old Men,’ there was a moment in each of my viewing experiences where I went, ‘Dammit, this is scarier than ‘Silence Of The Lambs.” Jonathan Demme Read Quote
I still go out, but not a lot. If I go to see music, it’s usually to the Blue Note, jazz clubs, things like that. When I travel, I find out where the jazz clubs are. Jonathan Demme Read Quote
I’m all for streaming, and I do think it’s thrilling that a gazillion people can see our film the day it drops. On the other hand, I’m a fierce believer of the theatergoing experience. My hope would be that films can be enjoyed in both ways, that there’s room for both. Jonathan Demme Read Quote
When you’re filming, if you can’t capture the relationships and interplay, that magical thing that transpires between musicians during a performance, then you’re not going to have a deeply interesting film. It’s vital. Jonathan Demme Read Quote
I’ve been making films since the ’70s and trying to develop that best possible fiction-film style that I feel is the most expressive. At a certain point, I felt I was winding up making the same film stylistically and I found that boring. Jonathan Demme Read Quote
I didn’t go to film school so my learning was done out in public and showed up on the screen. Jonathan Demme Read Quote
I often find myself feeling that filming music is somehow the purest form of filmmaking. This crazed collision of sound and images, the intense collaboration, these incredibly cinematic performances. And for the nights you’re filming, a non-player like me gets to feel somehow part of the band. Jonathan Demme Read Quote